Ditmas Park’s Jewish Dinner Party
NEW YORK: Part salon, part pop-up restaurant, Itta Roth’s quirky ‘Hester,’ a monthly club located at the Brooklyn Victorian, draws a youthful crowd with its kosher, organic fare. Roth calls her ‘Hester’ party a speakeasy, where around 75 invited guest can also eat and drink in exchange to a donations range from $12 for one drink ticket to $40, which includes three drink tickets, an entrée and dessert.
The Hester runs on a complicated system whereby patrons exchange money for colored tickets, which in turn entitle them to various amounts of food and drink, like those cool-looking cocktails garnished with a sprig of rosemary. But wait — there’s that fine print: “All prices are suggested donations for labour & materials.”
‘Hester’ salon party line is named after Kate Hester, a saloonkeeper in the early 1900s who lost her liquor license and used to implore her customers to “Speak easy, boys!” Also, in Hebrew, “hastair” can mean hidden. Roth knows her Bible. She cites Deuteronomy 31:18 to back this up.
